About CSCs

Member CSCs

Broward

The Children’s Services Council of Broward County receives funds from county property taxes. Established in 2000, it funds a variety of programs designed to help every child lead a healthy, safe and productive life. These programs are delivered by more than 100 provider agencies throughout the county. Its mission is to provide the leadership, advocacy and resources necessary to enhance children’s lives and empower them to become responsible, productive adults through collaborative planning and funding of a continuum of quality care.

Duval

The Jacksonville Children’s Commission provides support to parents and neighborhoods so that children can grow up safe, healthy and prepared to be successful in school and life. It provides planning, funding and evaluation for prevention and early intervention programs for children, from birth through high school.

Martin

The Children’s Services Council of Martin County has served residents since 1988. Its purpose is to plan, coordinate, fund and evaluate programs that serve children and families in Martin County, as well as address public policy issues relating to children. The mission of the Children’s Services Council of Martin County is to enhance the lives of the children of Martin County and to enable them to attain their full potential.

Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade County voters in September 2002 approved an independent special district, a dedicated funding source for children entitled, The Children’s Trust. The Children’s Trust was later reauthorized by voters in August 2008. Its mission is to partner with the community to improve the lives of all children and families in Miami-Dade County by making strategic investments in their futures. The Children’s Trust of Miami-Dade aims to become the recognized leader in planning, advocating and funding quality services to improve the lives of children and their families.

Palm Beach

The Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County is an independent district established by Palm Beach County voters in 1986. Its mission is to enhance the lives of children and their families and enable them to attain their full potential by providing a unified context within which children’s needs can be identified and resolved by all members of the community. The Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County plans, develops, funds, and evaluates programs and promotes public policies that benefit Palm Beach County’s children and families.

St. Lucie

The Children’s Services Council of St. Lucie is a 23-year-old agency that uses dedicated property tax revenue to improve the lives of children and families in St. Lucie County. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for all children in St. Lucie County. The majority of its funds are used to support prevention-based programs for children and families.

The legacy of the dedicated funding source for children in Florida counties began in 1945 in Pinellas County following World War II. That was when local attorney Leonard Cooperman decided it was time to give troubled youth a better option than going to jail.

Cooperman drafted legislation to establish an independent body of citizens and community leaders that would have as its sole interest the welfare of children in Pinellas County. That same year, the Florida Legislature passed a local bill allowing Pinellas County to establish a special district for children called a “juvenile welfare board,” and levy an ad valorem tax, subject to voter approval.

Approved in 1946—by an 80-20 margin— the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County became the state’s first Children’s Services Council. Nearly 40 years later, citizens in Palm Beach County sought to establish a special district for children in their county. The rest, they say, is history.